To Lose One’s Self is to Find One’s Self

Following the Haiti Earthquake of January 12th I was reminded of an essay written by Albert Einstein entitled, “The World as I See It.” In this piece Einstein speaks to the understanding that we are not on this planet to serve ourselves. He elaborates on how we are here to serve one another stating that his achievements were made with the idea of serving mankind and not himself. What took Einstein many years to conclude is being taught to us, the world, in a crash course with one significant natural disaster after the other.

Certainly in this letter I could give you more of the tragedy that we have all been hearing on TV, in the papers and on the Internet, but what I would rather do is share with you a message of hope and joy. After this event I was feeling great disharmony and pain. As I sat meditating the day after the earthquake I received a sudden urge to go shopping for supplies and donate them somewhere. When I came out of my meditation with this idea I wondered where I could find a trustworthy organization to make my donation. I then opened my e-mail and had two separate messages from different people that mentioned the organization Mission Harvest America. A couple of hours later my son, Kaleb and I were pulling up to an old warehouse on the Westside.

When we arrived several ladies were outside, smiling, happy to see us. They offered to help us unload and when they looked in the truck they lit up. It was like seeing a child at Christmas who is overwhelmed by seeing the tree with all the presents laid out. The love, the joy and the gratitude I saw in their eyes still make my eyes well up as I write this letter. As we unloaded, I looked around and instead of seeing a group of people who were depressed; I saw a room of people, working, filled with joy and camaraderie for the opportunity to help others, I saw love in their hearts and oddly enough, I saw laughter, yes laughter, the kind of laughter you see when a group comes together for a common purpose or to overcome adversity.

Needless to say, I could not help but to be touched by what I witnessed and moved in a way that made me want to do more. Their energy and desire to make a difference was so strong it was infectious. In that moment and the moments to follow I realized that though events such as the earthquake in Haiti bring great pain and sadness, there is something very special that comes out of them. We find our sense of compassion, love and joy. We discover our hearts and if we are lucky, truly lucky, we lose ourselves in the selfless effort to be of service to other human beings. We experience true altruism in an effort to relieve the pain of another human being. I believe this is what Einstein was writing about in his essay when he addressed serving others. The inner fulfillment and limitless possibilities that exist within us when we put our energy to a greater good, whether individual or community, and let go of our excessive concentration on ourselves, our needs, desires and concerns.

Please take a minute to send loving intentions and prayer if you choose, to those affected by this horrific event and let yourself be infected by this wonderful concept of being of service to others. It is a journey I assure you, you will not regret and you won’t want to miss.

Mission Harvest America is located at 69 S. Copeland Street, Jacksonville, FL. They can be reached at 904-356-4819 or at dpainter@missionngo.com. Visit their website at www.missionngo.com.

Read more of the February Issue in digital form at www.najax.com